ISLAMABAD: The government will be putting in place a number of restrictions on unvaccinated people from Wednesday (today) as the country reported over 100 Covid-19 deaths for the fourth time in about three weeks. In another development, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) will begin vaccinating people over 17 years of age and administering booster shots to those intending …

ISLAMABAD: The human rights ministry on Tuesday said sharing the report on forced conversion prepared by the Parliamentary Committee to Protect Minorities from Forced Conversions with the religious affairs ministry was not its responsibility. Talking to the human rights ministry spokesperson said the religious affairs ministry should get the copy of the report from the secretariat of the parliamentary committee. The …

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs50.1bn local currency cover for $300 million financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for procurement of Covid-19 vaccine, Rs215m grant for local government elections of cantonment boards and $10m temporary funds for Roosevelt Hotel to meet emergency expenses. The ECC meeting presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat …

Pakistan administered a record 1.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, said Asad Umar, head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) — the nerve centre of the country’s coronavirus response — on Wednesday, as authorities continued to ramp up efforts to deal with a fourth wave of the contagion. The NCOC shared in a tweet that a …

WASHINGTON: It was not Pakistan’s military strategy but Afghanistan’s internal problems that caused the collapse of the former Afghan government, argues Islamabad’s US ambassador Asad Majeed Khan. Last week, Republican Congressman Michael G. Waltz sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, urging him to sanction Pakistan for its alleged support to Taliban militants who, according to Mr Waltz, captured …

WASHINGTON: Reported hate crimes in the US, in particular targeting African Ame­ricans and Asian Ame­ricans, surged in 2020, according to statistics released on Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a year that saw huge Black Lives Matter protests which helped force a reckoning on racism, reports of hate crimes against Black Americans rose 40 per cent, from 1,972 …

KABUL: Taliban forces clashed with militia fighters in the Panjshir valley north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday night, with at least seven killed, two members of the main anti-Taliban opposition group said on Tuesday. Since the fall of Kabul on Aug 15, Panjshir has been the only province to hold out against the Taliban, although there has also …

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held a rare phone call with the UAE’s de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Erdogan’s office said on Tuesday, in a new sign of efforts to improve ties between the regional rivals. Turkey and the UAE have competed for regional influence since the Arab uprisings erupted a decade ago, …

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered law enforcement officers and army staff receive $200, as he seeks support for his unpopular United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections next month. The cash handouts follow earlier one-time payments for pensioners of $135 ahead of lower house State Duma polls in September, with United Russia’s ratings hit by rising prices …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main elephant orphanage recorded a rare twin birth on Tuesday as a 25-year-old named Surangi delivered healthy male calves. They are the first elephant twins born in captivity in Sri Lanka since 1941, according to elephant expert Jayantha Jayewardene. “Both the calves and the mother are doing fine,” Renuka Bandaranaike, head of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, said. …